Leather Football Helmet

[foamspoon]

Hello,

I am a new collector to the sports scene, but a long time collector of WWII militaria focusing on German Helmets. I coach football and have been doing historical research of the school I coach at and been researching newspapers and old photos.

I would like to get into collecting vintage football equipment. I know in the militaria collecting field there are several websites, message boards and books that cover the various subjects. Can someone point me int he right direction?

Thanks,

Bryan

[MGHPro]

Bryan
If you check out
Antiquesportsshop.com you will see a good amount of football memorabilia for sale. Keith posts on the boards here and he is very knowledgeable.He also has a sold section so you can see other examples of items. He normally has a pretty good description of the item including when it was made.

Corey also has a good amount of football items.. antiqueathlete.com. He also has a sold section for examples

Other will chime in as well
Good luck
Matt

[slidekellyslide]

I currently have a nice rare example of a Honus Wagner Sporting Goods helmet for sale.

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll...e=STRK:MESE:IT

[CarltonHendricks]

Hello Bryan, Welcome to Net54. I’m not aware of a forum such as Net54Baseball.com that focus’ on vintage football equipment, or even just vintage memorabilia in general. As far as I know this site has more posts about those subjects than anywhere. It’s mostly baseball here but football pops up occasionally, as well as other sports.

However there are a few non auction sites that sell vintage football equipment and memorabilia, along with other sports…I list a few key ones below. If you’re new to vintage football collecting just seeing what’s out there is educational. You’re going to want to become familiar with all the different eras and styles of equipment.

http://www.sportsantiques.com/pg12brimstory.htm#*Part 1*
If you’re completely new to it all there’s a lot to learn…The first intercolligient football game was in 1869 between Princeton and Rutgers…It was more a soccer game than what we have today…then over the next ten years the game quickly changed from soccer to rugby to classic American football, see link above for closer look….no helmets were worn till the 1890’s starting with what’s now called a “four spoke head harness”…Then came what’s called the “rain cap” helmet…then the “dog ear” style helmet…then the “Princeton” style and so on…These were ahead of the 1930’s Rockne style helmets that are more well known as classic leather helmets…















There’s also a style from the 30’s called an “executioner” that has leather face guard and that is quite rare and has become quite sought after.
Then you have your rubber nose guards from the 1895-1905 era….and you have your union suits worn from about the mid 1880’s till about 1910…and the different variations of it….then you have the different kinds of cleats worn that changed over time….jerseys, and all the styles…

Then if you’re get into the memorabilia you’ve got trophies, plaques, statues, silver, prints and all the variations from the wood cut engraving to the chromolithograph, paintings, posters, games, toys, etc etc…And all those areas have many sub-variations....So there’s a lot to learn about!























http://www.sportsantiques.com/johngbook.htm
The number one book on the subject is ANTIQUE SPORTS UNIFORMS & EQUIPMENT 1840-1940 Baseball Football Basketball by Dan Hauser, Ed Turner, and John Gennantonio, You can find it on eBay and Amazon…and if you want an autographed copy I can hook you up with one of the co-authors John Gennantonio, send me a PM for his contact. You can preview the book in the link above.

Many sports auctions will have some vintage football equipment but the auctions that seem to have the most would be Leland’s, Hunt, and Legendary…and of course eBay.

As for shows, the once a year National Sports Collectors Convention would be the most target rich of any….It’s held in a different city every year….I’ve covered the National for my website SportsAntiques.com since 2003, minus 2010 and 2012…and posted tons of photos of what was there….see links below

http://www.sportsantiques.com/03NatStory.htm
http://www.sportsantiques.com/04NatStory.htm
http://www.sportsantiques.com/05NatSCCMain.htm
http://www.sportsantiques.com/2006national.htm
http://www.sportsantiques.com/2007NA...tionalmain.htm
http://www.sportsantiques.com/2008natmain.htm
http://www.sportsantiques.com/09natstorypg1.htm
http://www.sportsantiques.com/2011_nat_carlton_buys.htm

Dealers Sites
http://www.antiquesportsshop.com/index.html
http://www.antiqueathlete.com/
http://bobmccannsports.com/

All this should keep you busy for a while...good luck and Merry Christmas.
-Carlton

[pgellis]

Great topic. Great stuff Carlton.

Here's some of my items.

[herkyhawkeye]

Welcome to the site Foamspoon. Always great to see another Militaria collector. I was a big WW2 militaria collector before Sports memorabilia as well and now dabble in TOO many areas. Its a disease, be careful.

If you are looking for some old leather football helmets I would advise to keep looking and be aware that they are out there and can be had at a good price. If you are patient and keep your eye open, you will be able to find a helmet for a reasonable price.

[herkyhawkeye]

Originally Posted by foamspoon

Hello,

I am a new collector to the sports scene, but a long time collector of WWII militaria focusing on German Helmets. I coach football and have been doing historical research of the school I coach at and been researching newspapers and old photos.

I would like to get into collecting vintage football equipment. I know in the militaria collecting field there are several websites, message boards and books that cover the various subjects. Can someone point me int he right direction?

Thanks,

Bryan

I would also advise to use the search function on this forum. Although this forum is primarily Baseball related, there has been a wide variety of other sports memorabilia and there is a wealth of knowledge presented in past threads in this forum

[Duluth Eskimo]

Carlton,
That 1902 Yale team and the 1920 rose bowl piece are outstanding. I almost missed the sweater ad too. Those pieces are awesome

[CarltonHendricks]

Our new member Foamspoon Bryan seems to have stopped in for a cup of joe and forgot to return....I hope he gets all this instruction and help. If not at least he started a good thread

Phil,
Thanks.....and back at ya....Those are certainly all top grade helmets in very good condition. I like the darker hard shell one on the right of the top photo....like I say they're all premium examples....I'll take a guess you go for quality over quantity. That Princeton seems to have a black top. If so never seen one like that. The Princeton seems to be one of the toughest styles to find. So how long did it take you to acquire a collection like that?...and how did you? Did you get them out of auctions or straight sales?....you're to be commended...Do you collect any other areas of early football memorabilia?

Mr. Jason Sir,
Thanks for the approval...not all those pieces are mine, I just used photos that were handy to give Bryan some food for thought...however those three pieces you mention do happen to be mine. Harvard has an example of the 1920 Tournament of Roses poster in their football Coach's Lounge. I saw it when I was there at Harvard to shoot their trophies in 2011. Interestingly my guide Renny Little, Harvard's trophy curator, told me they had one that got stolen, and the one they have now was donated my an alum. Link below to see they're example and read the story.
http://sportsantiques.com/pg7brimsstory.htm



Yeah that Bradley Sweater poster was a nice find . There is a Bradley Sweaters trifold window display I've seen surface a couple times that is off the chart. The last one I saw at the 2006 National, which you can see in the link below in the late Tony Bussineau's booth
http://www.sportsantiques.com/06natpage1.htm





That 1902 Mogul Cigarettes poster just came in real handy. There's a player on there named Harold Metcalf who played fullback. Recently there was a find of a bunch of Yale hats and sweaters that belonged to him. A friend of mine got two of the sweaters so I dug up some bio of Metcalf to go with them.





http://www.nhregister.com/articles/2...mode=fullstory
Also on the Mogul Cigs poster is a portrait of Tom Shevlin who played Defensive End and was one Yale's greatest all time players...as well as being probably college footballs all time most colorful personality...race car driving playboy millioniare undergrad... below a foreboding grimacing photo of him...Above is a link to a July 21, 2012 story on him in the New Haven Register.

[pgellis]

Originally Posted by CarltonHendricks

[FONT="Arial"][SIZE="4"][COLOR="Navy"]Our new member Foamspoon Bryan seems to have stopped in for a cup of joe and forgot to return....I hope he gets all this instruction and help. If not at least he started a good thread

Phil,
Thanks.....and back at ya....Those are certainly all top grade helmets in very good condition. I like the darker hard shell one on the right of the top photo....like I say they're all premium examples....I'll take a guess you go for quality over quantity. That Princeton seems to have a black top. If so never seen one like that. The Princeton seems to be one of the toughest styles to find. So how long did it take you to acquire a collection like that?...and how did you? Did you get them out of auctions or straight sales?....you're to be commended...Do you collect any other areas of early football memorabilia?

Thanks Carlton. Yes that Princeton does have a black top. I will get a better picture or two for you over the weekend and post. I got that helmet in a Mears auction.

I am now collecting for quality over quantity like you guessed. I want to add high grade examples of types that I don't have (Executioner anyone?).

I have been collecting helmets and other football memorabilia for about 15 years. I would say about 3/4 of my collection I have got on eBay. Others with other auction houses (Mears, etc.)

The helmet with shoulder pads (Spaulding) I got about 13-14 years ago when I placed a "Wanted To Buy" add in my local newspaper (Cape Cod, MA). Somebody called and I got the Spaulding Helmet and matching shoulder pads in fabulous condition for $150.00.

I'll post more pictures this weekend.

Phil

[foamspoon]

thanks guys I am here! Absorbing everything in and searching the web. Deciding where I am going to start. Thanks for the great photos and info!

Bryan